Bariloche Sector by Lexi C. Foss

8

Kari

I stirredto awareness beside a blanket of heat, my mind fighting to remember when I’d fallen asleep. Alpha Sven had petted me for what had felt like hours, his hands exploring my body but never touching me anywhere truly intimate despite my splayed thighs.

He’d merely warmed my skin, teasing me with a sense of security and warmth that my wolf had craved all my life. While my mind knew better than to fall for his tricks, I couldn’t deny the comfort of his presence.

I opened my eyes to find my head pillowed against his chest. His strong arms were wrapped around me as he continued emitting that amazing soft rumble of noise. He’d been purring nonstop for days, or so it seemed. It was addicting and hypnotic and a sound I would very much miss whenever this ended.

His fingers combed through my hair as he said, “It’s time to eat again.”

I nearly groaned. This male was obsessed with food. I felt like I’d just eaten ten minutes ago, but the slight growl in my stomach told me it’d been much longer than that. Perhaps even a full day. Time was elusive here in this nest of warmth and lulling purrs. At some point, I’d shifted the blankets around to create a wall of sorts, like I was trying to trap us in this bed so we could never leave.

His lips pressed into the top of my head as he tried to disentangle himself from our cocoon. I growled in annoyance, his movements disrupting my carefully crafted barriers.

He paused and I hummed in approval, nestling deeper into the vibrations of his chest.

“You’re not going to distract me from feeding you, Kari,” he warned.

I ignored him, not sure what he meant, and continued to press myself against his hard body to find the contentment I’d experienced before he’d moved.

He sighed and pulled me into him again, then drew his fingertips down my spine. It was heaven. Or maybe hell. Because I knew it wouldn’t last, and with every breath, I anticipated the worst.

But the longer he held me, the more I relaxed. Then I reached out to fix the blanket he’d touched when trying to leave and closed my eyes once more.

Minutes passed.

Maybe hours.

And the big Alpha tried to dislodge me again.

I growled.

This time he growled back.

My wolf whimpered.

He kissed my forehead and moved away despite my protests, leaving me in the fort I’d created. It was strange, yet natural. I recognized the signs of nesting, something I’d witnessed in other Omegas but had never experienced myself.

I’d never owned my own space, nor had I ever been able to access so much luxurious bedding. My cell had been more like a cage back at Bariloche Sector. The only times they’d let me out had been when an Alpha had wanted me in a bed, and that bed had never been my own.

This one isn’t mine either, I thought, frowning.

But that didn’t stop me from fluffing one of the pillows and situating the blankets where I wanted them once more. I left a space for Alpha Sven. Which was strange because he definitely didn’t belong in my nest. Yet I liked the way his scent marked the sheets. And his warmth, too.

I was just putting the finishing touches on my wall when it parted to reveal Alpha Sven and another tray of food. He set it inside, making me snarl in annoyance. I picked up the tray and threw it on the ground with a low growl of warning.

Food does not go in the nest! I shouted at him in my mind.

“Kari.” Fury poured off of him in a palpable wave that upset my inner wolf. But I didn’t back down. He’d tried to soil my space with fish and—I sniffed—beef.

I glowered at him, not at all caring that the food was now decorating the floor. Better the carpet than my sheets.

“You will eat,” he demanded.

I snorted. This had nothing to do with me eating and everything to do with him disrespecting our nest.

“I mean it,” he said, his tone ice cold and his purr long gone. “I’m done with this self-harm bullshit.”

He wanted to talk about harm? He tried to put food in my nest. “You’re a terrible Alpha.” He should know better than to destroy such a cherished space. My space. Something I’d never had before. Maybe that was part of his game—this desire to make me feel at home only to remind me that I wasn’t home, or safe, and entirely under his control.

My heart skipped a beat.

Yes.

That had been the point of this lesson. He’d allowed me to feel a few days of comfort just to rip it away by—

“A terrible Alpha?” His ire spiked across my senses, quieting my inner turmoil for a second.

Did I call him that?I couldn’t remember. I was too focused on my nest and the situation and… Why am I acting like this? I’d never been territorial before. And I knew better than to consider this bed mine, let alone to make a nest.

“I’ve bathed you, fed you, purred for you, offered you warmth and protection, and you think I’m a terrible Alpha?” His voice rose to a roar of sound that had me shrinking inside the nest and calling to my wolf on instinct alone. Fur sprouted across my skin, shifting me into my animal state faster than I’d anticipated.

Because of the nourishment, I realized.

Already I was feeling stronger, and Alpha Sven had barely given me much more than comfort and food.

A furious growl followed my transformation, the Alpha angrier than I’d ever seen him. “You will shift back right now,” he commanded. “Or so help me, Kari, you will not like the consequences.”

Crap. I’d really made him mad. Like, way madder than the other times. And he was going to truly destroy me now.

I leapt out of my nest, afraid that he might grab me and pin me down.

Which was the wrong thing to do because he lunged toward me on a snarl, his wolf shining in his eyes. I’d not only insulted him, but I’d also provoked his predatory instincts.

This was bad.

Very, very bad.

I ran into the living area, trying to get away from him, and knocked down several items along the way. He roared in my wake, then froze beside the couch, his attention going to the door.

My hackles rose as a sweet scent touched my nostrils.

Omega.

Competition.

Dislike.

The reaction came from my inner wolf, her snarl one that Alpha Sven shot right back at me as he marched toward the bedroom and pulled on a pair of jeans and a shirt before heading for the main door.

I growled, irritated that he was leaving me for another Omega, only to freeze as he snapped, “Stop.”

The door slammed shut behind him.

My inner animal rioted, furious that he’d cut me off to be with another female. Meanwhile, my head spun in confusion, trying to figure out what the hell had just happened and why.

I’d created a nest.

He’d tried to soil my nest.

I’d thrown the food on the floor.

Then I’d called him a terrible Alpha.

And now he’d left me to be with another woman.

I sat on my rump, blinking into space, trying to sort through the emotional chaos erupting in my psyche. He’d left me. Wasn’t that a good thing? My wolf didn’t think so. Part of me wanted to stomp off into the bedroom and destroy the safety he’d helped me create there. Meanwhile, another part of me wanted to skulk into the bedroom and cry in my safe haven.

I’d… screwed this up.

Sort of.

Maybe.

I couldn’t figure it out. Alpha Sven didn’t act like the wolves I knew. He… he offered me food. Sanctuary. Purrs.

And now he was punishing me by playing with another Omega. Another slave? Did he own several?

My nose twitched, the scent still strong. It was then that I realized he hadn’t fully left yet. He was standing in the hallway outside the door, just like he’d done the other day with Alpha Ludvig.

The hum of voices met my ears, causing them to twitch in irritation at the sickly sweet sound of… Hold on… I recognized that tone.

Snow Frost.

But she was a Beta, not an Omega.

Did she have an Omega with her?

I scented the air, searching, and only found the fragrant perfume of competition mingling with my Alpha.

My eyebrows rose. My Alpha? Whoa, no, no, no. Not my anything.

A grumble in my chest stirred in disagreement as my wolf retorted, My Alpha.

I shook out my coat, trying to regain my mental faculties because I’d clearly lost my mind. Then I settled my rump again on a pile of shredded cushions. These might look good in my nest. Maybe—

The door opened, and the scent of competition floated into the air, drawing a growl from my wolf. Competition!

“We’re not done with this conversation,” Alpha Sven said, his blue eyes landing on me. “Consider this a gift of time, Omega. You now have at least two hours to fix your attitude.”

My attitude?I thought back at him, snorting. You’re the one flirting with another Omega in the hallway!

“You will eat while I’m gone,” he continued.

Food? This has nothing to do withfood, I grumbled. Not that he could hear me since I was in wolf form, but he might be able to read the thoughts from my eyes like he had before. And where are you going for two hours? To play with your new Omega? Just the thought of it had my hackles rising in response. An entirely irrational reaction, but nothing about this situation was rational.

“Starving yourself isn’t an option,” he snapped, clearly unable to read my mind this time. Or maybe his new Omega was clouding his judgment.

I hate you.

“I will force-feed you just like I did yesterday,” he added, giving me pause. “Your choice, Omega.”

He considered that experience to be force-feeding me? At what point did he make me do anything? He’d just brought the fork to my lips, and I’d done the rest.

Wait a second. Now you’re distracting me with your food obsession. I glared at him. This isn’t about food, you dumb Alpha.

He placed his hands on his hips. “Two hours,” he said. “Eat, bathe, and be human when I return.”

Why? So you can use me as a secondary sleeve after you play with your new Omega?I demanded, uncertain of where all this fury inside me had come from, but indulging it nonetheless. I’d never felt possessive over an Alpha, and I had no idea why I suddenly experienced it with this one. Maybe because he’d been nice to me for a few minutes after a decade of torment.

There’s something different about him, though,I thought, contemplating it as he squatted down in front of me to meet my gaze.

“I’ve been lenient because of your situation. That will end when I return, and this behavior will be sternly corrected.” He uttered the words slowly, like he thought I might not understand them otherwise.

It made me want to growl at him, but instead, I held his gaze to show I wasn’t afraid. He could correct me now if it meant not going off with the other Omega.

What the hell is wrong with me?I wondered, delirious with this bizarre change between us. A sudden urge to lunge at him and bite his shoulder left me dizzy and incapable of responding.

Mine, my wolf raged.

Why?I demanded in response.

Alpha Sven stood abruptly, his annoyance a whip in his wake that only provoked my urge that much more. Do not leave, my wolf wanted me to say. You belong here. In my nest.

Stop,I begged. Stop this insanity.

“Talk some sense into her, will you?” he said, confusing me even more.

Could he sense my wolf’s need to mark him? Was he telling me to get it under control?

Of course he would want that. As a sterile Omega, I couldn’t actually claim him, or vice versa. This whole situation was—

“I need to go make sure Kazek doesn’t kill half the fucking sector,” he added from the hallway, making me frown inside.

What?

The sound of the elevator shutting agitated my wolf. He’d just left with that Omega, ensuring I’d know exactly what he intended to do for the next two hours.

I growled, knocking over the coffee table beside me, and bounded toward the door, ready to claw up the corridor walls.

Only to freeze in the hallway at the sight of Snow Frost standing before me.

Shewas the source of the Omega scent.